Per wrote:
You can marry and divorce as many times as you like, but you don't switch teams.

Riiiight. Or discuss the non-Swedish players of said team. Or watch the actual games of said team. Or live anywhere near the hemisphere of said team. Or ever visit the city of said team. Or ever see a game in the arena of said team...

I guess if checking out early-morning box scores over a plate of reindeer meatballs after being soundly beaten by your 95 lb wife makes you a fan, you're a helluva fan Pare.

I wouldn't say shitty. Sure, Canada is a favourite to win this event, along with the Russians who have home court advantage, but I think Sweden will definitely be a contender as well.

Rumsfeld wrote:The forwards that will be left off the Canadian roster would probably comprise a group that would hand you your yellow little asses. Lundquist is your only hope and when Crosby is feeding Stamkos on our first unit PP it won't matter how good your incredibly gay goalie is.

Canada has incredible depth. Sure, your second team would also be a contender, which is why I favour independence for Quebec, as it'd help make international hockey more interesting. But we have other asssets than Lundquist. Apart from his Vezina, this line-up has amassed two Art Rosses, two Calders, a Norris, a Hart, a Lindsay and a Conn Smythe. Not to mention that it is sporting four NHL team captains. Plenty of leadership on board. And damn it, Zetterberg should also have won Calder. He was robbed. Seriously!

Rumsfeld wrote:
Seriously, half your team wouldn't even be considered for the Red and White if they'd been born here instead of your frozen commie shithole.

A couple of the players were probably born in Canada. I know Steen was. And considering the difference in talent pool depth, I find your suggestion that half the players on the Three Crowns would have been considered to play on Team Canada rather encouraging!
Oh, and for the record, at present we have a conservative PM running a centre right govt coalition. Guess you don't get around to reading the news very often.

Rumsfeld wrote:The again, you don't actually watch NHL games, so I guess you think guys like Alfredsson and Steen and Murray are world class players.

Uhm, I do watch NHL games, but not live on a regular basis as they tend to start in the weee hours of the night and I have a job to go to. Thus I mostly make do with highlights and written reports, but I do watch a game every now and then. It's not like I live in a totally hockey-deprived area as say Iowa.
Alfredsson used to be a world class player, who is now past his prime, but I think he'd bring valuable experience, so I'd still take him on my team.
Alex Steen is not a superstar, but I'd say he is one of the best 20-30 Swedish players right now, and he is playing first line minute's on a half decent NHL team as St Louis, so yeah, he makes the cut.
As for Murray - I did say he didn't make the team on skill, but as a police. He's there to make the Canadians know that if they start taking liberties, Crosby may leave the ice in a horizontal position. He's a decent enough defensive D-man, who knows how to deliver a mean hit and doesn't mind dropping his gloves. I know Pittsburg consider his services interesting when attempting a cup run.

Rumsfeld wrote:LOL @ your third and fourth lines, there are NHL teams with better depth than that. The 2010 Blackhawks would be unimpressed.

OK, I bite. Name an NHL team that has a better bottom six than Loui Eriksson, Patrik Berglund, Daniel Alfredsson, Gabriel Landeskog, Alex Steen and Jakob Silfverberg.

I guess the thing will be settled on the ice in Sochi.

One thing that you probably is forgetting though is that afaik, this tournament will be played on big ice.
It's a format that most North American players are unfamiliar with, but that the Swedish players grow up with.

It tends to be especially frustrating for North American D-men who suddenly find themselves with a lot more blue line to patrol. which means their positioning often tends to get compromised.

I think it's the defense that will prove to be our strength. That combined with great goaltending and a forward corps that doesn't mind backchecking. We won the whole thing last time it was played on big ice, in 2006.

Yeah, it's not just "depth" where Canada has you hopelessly outmatched. Your aging high-end top-6 forwards (Sedins, Zetterberg) are crap compared to the high-end forwards on Canada (Crosby, Stamkos, St.Louis, Giroux). In fact, the fourth line I selected for my team Canada (Bergeron, Toews, Tavares) is, in 2013, significantly better than your first line at both ends of the ice.

And as I already said, the '10 Blackhawks bottom six (Ladd, Versteeg, Fugly, Brouwer, Burish) are very comparable (if not superior) to your bottom six.

Again, I realize these things are difficult for you to grasp when you don't actually watch NHL hockey and cherry-pick Swedish players' statistics from the box scores once a week.

And as I mentioned in several previous posts, I'm well aware that the time difference and lack of NHL coverage prevents you from watching NHL games.

What you seem unable to grasp is how this lack of exposure to the players we are discussing makes you kind of a shitty analyst. Your opinion seems to be based more on nationalistic flag-waving than any sort of realistic breakdown of the players involved.

Just admit it Pair, you're a fan of Swedish players and regional Sacandinavian hockey far more than you are a fan of the Canucks or any NHL-related events. Based on your previous postings, you clearly hold the World Championships, a meaningless who-gives-a-fuck tournament in North America, in higher esteem than you do the Stanley Cup playoffs. There's nothing wrong with this, per (C wot) se, but it makes your opinions on the Canucks and other NHL-related matters.... dubious, at best.

But meh, what are you gonna do, I guess casual fans are fans too. Sorta.

#1 Luongo (his to lose imo, he'll probably get the start and if plays above average he'll play the entire tournament, his whole career highlights will probably be him getting Team Canada HOPEFULLY more gold medal.
#2 Price
#3 Either Crawford or Howard.

Just like Brodeur prior, Luongo is now our veteran goalie, no matter how many haters he has in this world, like it or not he backstopped the Canadian team to a Gold medal, he will no doubt get the start in the beginning.

Subban might get more of a prominent role if he keeps up his Norris trophy like play next season.

Rumsfeld wrote:LOL, so Luongo couldn't fetch a second-rounder from a team with no goaltending and he's gonna start for Canada in the Olympics?

Dream on sistah.

I was gonna say, Hockey Canada doesn't have to pick up a ten year contract in the bargain - butt serious question, is it HC that's going to have to insure that monstrosity or does the IOC pick up the tab?

Rumsfeld wrote:LOL, so Luongo couldn't fetch a second-rounder from a team with no goaltending and he's gonna start for Canada in the Olympics?

Dream on sistah.

I was gonna say, Hockey Canada doesn't have to pick up a ten year contract in the bargain - butt serious question, is it HC that's going to have to insure that monstrosity or does the IOC pick up the tab?

I can't wait to find out which hockey nerd knows the answer to that question lol